This is an OPEN CONTINUOUS ANNOUNCEMENT and will remain open until March 29, 2024. The first cut-off dates for referral of eligible applications will be 12/15/2023. All eligible applicants will be reviewed and referred to the hiring manager no later than 12/20/2023. Eligible applications received after 12/15/2023 date will be referred at regular intervals or as additional vacancies occur on an as-needed basis until positions are filled.

Duties

The incumbent serves as a Supervisory Medical Technologist in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Service (P&LMS). The incumbent is responsible for the administrative functions, quality control program and the first line supervision of personnel in the Microbiology, Blood bank and Serology Sections of the laboratory. The personnel under supervision of this position includes Medical Technologists working in these areas and off-tours . Duties include Advises Medical Technicians, Medical Technologists, other laboratory team members, and other staff members at the facility of day to day operations of the Microbiology, Blood Bank, and Serology departments of the clinical laboratory. Trains students, new employees, and P&LMS staff on national VHA Directives, facility policies, and P&LMS policies and SOP's relating to Microbiology, Blood Bank and Serology. Performs and/or trains co-workers in validation/method verification studies for new testing systems or reagents, including validations and/or staff training for upgrades or patches on Microbiology, Blood Bank, and Serology instrumentation. Responsible for professional oversight of departmental analyzers, service records, maintenance procedures required by P&LMS staff, supply functions, quality control reviews, new method development, or provide professional/technical advice to other staff members. Coordinates, maintains, and evaluates the competency of performing staff. Assigns proficiency testing surveys and performs and/or assists other Medical Technologists in performing investigations for exception reports and providing corrective actions as needed to the Laboratory Manager or designee.- Responsible for the Quality Control (QC) and Quality Assurance (QA) policies in areas of responsibility. Communicates QC and QA problems to the Laboratory Manager or designee. Evaluates the validity of data in relationship to the test system and accepted procedures. Correlates quantitative, biochemical, physiologic, and morphologic patient data with other patient laboratory data to verify results. Recognizes methodology limitations such as linearity, interference, sensitivity, and specificity and considers these when drawing conclusions about the validity of testing results.- Responsible for department inventory, reagent inventory, quality controls, and supply inventory. Performs complex laboratory procedures; recognizes deviation from expected results; analyzes and corrects problems using scientific principles; presents solution Assists the laboratory manager or designee for contractual purposes such as evaluation of vendors for supplies/equipment throughout their specialized departments of the laboratory, recommends new/replacement instrumentation, provides pertinent information for the writing of the Statement of Work, following up on Purchase Orders, verifies supplies have been received, informs Lab Manager or designee of defective supplies/equipment received, and requests market research quotes from vendors for new supplies/consumables/service as necessary. Ensures activities associated with process improvement, customer service, data driven decision making, or team driven change are accomplished. Monitors and evaluates the productivity and performance of his/her subordinates. When corrective action is needed, develops a program or identifies an appropriate program to improve the subordinates' performance. Performs other duties and tasks as assigned by the Lab Manager and Assistant Laboratory Manager. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00am-4:30pm may be required to work weekends, holidays, as needed. Telework: Not Authorized Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 619-029 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met. Basic Requirements: a. Citizenship. Citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3g, this part.) b. Education and/or Experience Combination (1) A bachelor's degree or higher from an accredited college or university in medical laboratory science, medical technology, clinical laboratory science or in a related science (e.g., laboratory sciences such as chemistry, biochemistry, biology, microbiology, immunology, etc.). AND completion of a medical technology clinical practice program. Clinical practice programs completed after 1974 must have been accredited by the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS), Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP, formerly CAHEA), or the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES). The professional curriculum may have consisted of a post-baccalaureate certificate program or be integrated into a four-year program of study that culminated in a baccalaureate degree. OR, (2) A bachelor's degree from an accredited college/university, including 16 semester hours of biological science (with one course in microbiology), 16 semester hours of chemistry (with one course in organic or biochemistry) and one course in mathematics, AND two years of post-certification clinical laboratory experience (e.g., blood banking, chemistry, hematology, microbiology, immunology, clinical microscopy, etc.) within the last ten years as a certified Medical Laboratory Technician by the American Society for Clinical Pathology Board of Certification (ASCP-BOC), American Society of Clinical Pathology Board of Registry (ASCP-BOR) or American Medical Technologists (AMT). This experience must include performing moderate and/or high complexity testing in blood banking, chemistry, hematology, microbiology immunology and clinical microscopy (or categorical experience which matches categorical certification) in a clinical laboratory. OR, (3) A bachelor's degree from an accredited college/university, including 16 semester hours of biological science (with one course in microbiology), 16 semester hours of chemistry (with one course in organic or biochemistry) and one course in mathematics, AND five years of clinical laboratory experience within the last ten years performing moderate and/or high complexity testing in blood banking, chemistry, hematology, microbiology, immunology and clinical microscopy (or categorical experience which matches categorical certification) in a clinical laboratory. c. Foreign Graduates. Graduates of foreign baccalaureate degree programs meet the educational and/or experience requirements if the degree is found to be equivalent to degree programs recognized by the NAACLS or clinical laboratory experience as described in paragraph 2b(2) or (3) above. This finding may be based on either of the following: (1) A letter from a college or university with a baccalaureate program recognized by the NAACLS stating that the individual's foreign degree has been evaluated and been found to be equivalent to its bachelor of medical technology degree. (2) A letter from ASCP-BOC or AMT stating that the individual is eligible for the certification examination. d. Certification. Candidates must have either (1) or (2) below: (1) Candidates must currently possess the appropriate certification as a MT, MLS, or CLS given by the ASCP-BOC, ASCP-BOR, or AMT. (2) For positions up to the full performance level, candidates mustcurrently possess the categorical or specialist technologist level certification from the certification agencies listed above, such as, but not limited to, chemistry (C/SC), hematology (H/SH), microbiology (M/SM), molecular biology (MB/SMB) and blood bank (BB/SBB). Technologists with categorical or specialist certifications may only perform duties within the area of the laboratory specific to their categorical certification (e. g., an individual with a chemistry (C) certification can only perform duties in chemistry). English Language Proficiency. MTs must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with chapter 2, section D, paragraph 5a, this part. Preferred Experience: Five years of work experience as a generalist Medical Technologist in a hospital setting with ASCP or AMT certification as MT, MLS, or CLS Three years of work experience as a Medical Technologist in Microbiology, Blood Bank and Serology section of a clinical laboratory One year in a leadership or supervisory role in a clinical laboratory Experience in performing new instrument implementation and validation studies. GS-11 (a) Experience. Must have 1 year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade (GS 09) level, which is directly related to the position to be filled. OR, (b) Education. Must have 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education or a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in medical technology or a directly related field. Supervisory Technologist. The incumbent has full supervisory responsibility for smaller, less complex laboratories or laboratories having no GS-11 positions subordinate to the supervisor. Employees in this assignment perform the full range of supervisory duties for one or more sections of the laboratory, including responsibility for assignment of work performed; performance evaluations; recommendations for appointment, awards, advancement and disciplinary actions; identification of continuing education and training needs. The individual ensures compliance with accrediting agency and regulatory requirements; establishes and monitors the quality of the pre-analytical processes as part of the overall laboratory quality management program, and initiates corrective action. This individual will develop policies and procedures, manage document control, develop performance standards, position descriptions and functional statements. Responsible for professional and administrative management of an assigned area, to include budget execution, orientation and competency assessment of assigned staff. The supervisor will maintain effective interdepartmental relations with other services in order to accomplish medical center goals. In addition to the experience or education above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs. a. Knowledge of Federal and state laws, regulations and accrediting/regulatory requirements in order to develop plans and procedures for the laboratory. b. Knowledge of laboratory quality management procedures and principles sufficient to establish and monitor a laboratory quality management program and/or education and training of laboratory staff. c. Demonstrated leadership and managerial skills including skill in interpersonal relations and conflict resolution in order to deal with employees, team leaders and managers. d. Ability to perform the full range of supervisory duties which includes responsibility for assignment of work, performance evaluations, selection of staff, recommendation of awards, advancements and disciplinary actions. e. Ability to plan, organize, set short and/or long term goals and conduct studies on technical and administrative problems, including personnel shortages, organizational structure, new technology, etc. f. Knowledge of concepts, principles and methods of clinical laboratory technology and operations. References: APPENDIX G24. MEDICAL TECHNOLOGIST QUALIFICATION STANDARD GS-644 Veterans Health Administration. Physical Requirements: This work is primarily sedentary but may include periods of prolonged walking and some travel to perform site visits. Extensive reading may be required.

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Contacts

• Address Central Alabama VA Medical Center-Montgomery 215 Perry Hill Road Montgomery, AL 36109 US
• Name: Sherrita Hamilton
• Phone: 205-702-1479
• Email: [email protected]